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UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology UCLA UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Title Travel Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3945t7f7 Journal UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 1(1) Author Köpp-Junk, Heidi Publication Date 2013-03-25 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California TRAVEL السفريات (الترحال) Heidi Köpp-Junk EDITORS WILLEKE WENDRICH Editor-in-Chief University of California, Los Angeles JACCO DIELEMAN Editor University of California, Los Angeles ELIZABETH FROOD Editor Area Editor Individual and Society University of Oxford JOHN BAINES Senior Editorial Consultant University of Oxford Short Citation: Köpp-Junk, 2013, Travel. UEE. Full Citation: Köpp-Junk, Heidi, 2013, Travel. In Elizabeth Frood and Willeke Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002gvznf 7992 Version 1, March 2013 http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz002gvznf TRAVEL السفريات (الترحال) Heidi Köpp-Junk Reisen Voyager Travel was a crucial element of ancient Egyptian culture. An extensive traffic system by land and by water already existed as early as the Old Kingdom, including various means of transport that did not fundamentally change right through to the New Kingdom. Traveling activity attested for various professions demonstrates that Egyptian society exercised a high degree of mobility. In the majority of cases, a journey was undertaken within the scope of the traveler’s work and on behalf of the pharaoh. Travel had a significant impact on the Egyptian world-view as well as on the development of the identity of Egyptian society as an entity . السفريات ھي عنصر ھام في الحضارة المصرية القديمة، حيث وجد نظام مواصﻻت بري وبحري علي نطاق واسع منذ بدايات الدولة القديمة ، متضمنا َ وسائل متنوعة للنقل لم تتغير بشكل أساسي حتى عصر الدولة الحديثة. كان نشاط الترحال جزء من العديد من الوظائف ، مما يدل على أن المصريين القدماء كانوا يمارسوا درجة عالية من الترحال .و كان السفر في أغلب الحاﻻت جزء من وظائف اﻷفراد نيابة ً عن الفرعون. لذلك كان للسفر تأثير كبير على نظرة المصريين للعالم وأيضا ً على تطور ھوية المجتمع المصري. point of departure is important, for this he concept of travel in ancient Egypt distinguishes travel from emigration, where no T differed greatly from our modern return is intended (Köpp 2006: 1 - 2; see also Baines understanding of the term, which is 2007: 5 - 6). largely associated with tourism. Today, people frequently travel for touristic reasons—namely, their Sources need for rest and relaxation and their curiosity regarding foreign countries and peoples. However, Archaeological evidence, in addition to non-fictional this is a phenomenon that has developed only within and fictional texts, demonstrates how ancient the last 130 years (Bausinger 1991: 343 - 344). Up to Egyptians traveled. Depictions of Egyptian travelers the European Middle Ages and early modern era, are rare in Pharaonic Egypt. Occasionally Egyptian traveling mostly took place for economic reasons means of locomotion and transport appear in wall rather than for pleasure. The same applies to ancient paintings, and reliefs in tombs and temples. Some Egypt. From Pharaonic times there is little evidence sledges, chariots, and wagons, as well as one carrying of journeys for pleasure, or what we would interpret chair, have been recovered archaeologically (Köpp as “touristic” travel today (Köpp 2006: 309). Due to 2006: 131 - 132; 141 n. 938; 154 - 155; 201). this fact, travel in ancient Egypt must be defined in a Non-fiction sources referring to travels and broader sense: it is the movement of a person from travelers include biographies, expedition texts, of‐ A to B, where B lies outside his usual radius of ficial documents, and visitors’ graffiti. But travel is action. Other determining factors are absence from not the core motif in these texts; it is mentioned home and staying in other surroundings. only in passing. Therefore the information on travel Furthermore, the traveler’s intention to return to his Travel, Köpp-Junk, UEE 2013 1 is rather fragmentary. Typically an inscription will referred to in the expedition texts are not only high- mention only a journey’s starting point or ranking but from lower ranks as well (Seyfried 1981: destination, very seldom both. Harkhuf’s explicit 4). Hunters, fowlers, brewers, sandal makers, bakers, reference to his travel routes to the land of Yam— scribes, millers, servants (Seyfried 1981: 248 - 252; namely, the Oasis Road and the Elephantine Road Kemp 2007: 181), physicians, priests (Engelmann (Sethe: Urk. I: 124, 17-125, 11)—is an exception. and Hallof 1995: 113, 131), and mayors (HAtj-a) The means of transport or locomotion used on a (Seyfried 1981: 249) are mentioned in the texts. In voyage were scarcely mentioned. A rare exception the New Kingdom, professions connected with occurs in the biography of Weni, where reference is horses and chariots, such as charioteers, were made to the ships in which Weni traveled (Sethe: attested (Hikade 2001: 43). Urk. I: 99, 15; 107, 7-9). The motif of travel appears Expeditions differed in size and in the profession often in Egyptian literature, for example in The of their members, depending on the type of material Shipwrecked Sailor, Sinuhe, The Eloquent Peasant, The they were sent out to retrieve, or on the goods they Letter of Wermai, and Wenamun (Loprieno 2003; were going to trade. For example, quarrying Galán 2005; and particularly Moers 1999: 43-61; expeditions for precious stones and gems required a Moers 2001: 167 - 283). greater number of specialists, whereas expeditions for large, heavy blocks required a majority of lessor- The Ancient Egyptian Traveler skilled workers for the quarrying, and especially the A high degree of mobility is attested in ancient transport, of the stones (Verner 1991: 65 - 66). In Egypt from the earliest times (Köpp 2008a). the Old Kingdom, the number of expedition Expeditions are already attested in the Predynastic members lies between 80 und 20,000 (Eichler 1993: Period (Eichler 1993: 269). Visitors’ inscriptions 125, 155, 325). Senusret I sent to the Wadi from Dynasty 0 were found at the Gebel Tjauti Hammamat an expedition that included “18,660 (Darnell and Darnell 1997: 25). There is further skilled and unskilled workers” (Kemp 2007: 181). A evidence dating to King Hor Aha and mission under the reign of Ramesses III counted Khasekhemwy in Nubia, and for Djer at Gebel 3,000 members, including 2,000 common workers Sheikh Suleiman (Zibelius-Chen 1988: 144 - 145; and 500 masons (Hikade 2001: 49). An expedition Endesfelder 1991: 17 - 18). Expeditions are attested under Ramesses IV consisted of 408 members in up to the 30th Dynasty (Blumenthal 1977: 87). total (Hikade 2001: 38), among them 50 stone- Travelers, however, were not only members of carriers and 200 transport-carriers (Steinmann 1984: expeditions: they came from very different 31). Already from these few pieces of evidence it professions ranging across the whole of Egyptian becomes clear that expedition members came from society. Besides those professionals requiring a high various professions with a sizable number of degree of mobility, such as merchants, messengers, common workers among them. and members of the army, there is documentary A calculation of the figures given in the expedition evidence of many others, such as traveling texts reveals that there is evidence for approximately physicians, architects, scribes, craftsmen, workers, 23,400 members of expeditions in the Old and priests, who were frequently but not exclusively Kingdom, nearly 40,000 in the Middle Kingdom, on the move as members of expeditions. and 13,622 in the New Kingdom (Köpp 2006: 274, Two important categories of travelers were 277, 278, 313). The explanation as to why the members of expeditions and members of the army, number of expedition members in the New both consisting of a variety of occupational Kingdom is lower in comparison with that of the categories. Expeditions to Sinai could include Old and Middle Kingdoms lies in the fact that there “twenty-five different types of government officials, are fewer expedition-related inscriptions from the eleven types of specialized local mining officials, New Kingdom that survive (Zibelius-Chen 1988: eight types of artisans and nine types of laborers” 155) and they are less detailed than those from the (Shaw 1986: 200). The same range is evidenced at Middle Kingdom (Eichler 1993: 273). It is assumed the Wadi el-Hudi and the Wadi Hammamat in the nevertheless that the number of travelers increased Middle Kingdom (Shaw 1986: 200). The officials with the expansion of the Egyptian empire in the Travel, Köpp-Junk, UEE 2013 2 New Kingdom, since the expansion promoted a required. This could be sent within Egypt but higher degree of mobility within several professions, abroad as well. Such a widely traveled scribe was such as the military and the administration (Köpp Nebnetjeru, whose graffiti is found between 2006: 313 - 314). Kalabsha and Dendur, near Tonkalah, and possibly Č Not every expedition that took place is even at Toshka ( erný 1947: 57). documented; thus the total number of travelers who Craftsmen were also on the move. There is were on the move as members of expeditions is evidence of craftsmen in the service of private higher than the documented figures we possess. individuals and of pharaoh (Drenkhahn 1976: 134 - Furthermore, since the expedition texts frequently 157). They were not necessarily tied to a particular mention only the higher ranking members, while the workshop but were sent out on expeditions and lower grades are often not mentioned (Eichler 1993: large-scale royal building projects (Verner 1991: 77). 158 - 159, 181), the total figures may conceivably Even higher-ranking craftsmen with titles such as have been much higher. Hmw wr, jmj-rA kAt, and jmj-rA nbjw n pr Ra are The members of the army consisted of various among those whose project-related work orders professions—from scribes to generals and soldiers caused them to travel (e.g., Raue 1999: 72, n.
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